Every year, expressions of interest for the Future Female Leaders Signature Program far outpace the places available. Girls from regional towns, metropolitan schools, and communities right across Western Australia are telling us the same thing: I want this. I want to learn how to lead.
They are not waiting to be convinced leadership matters. They already know it does.
What they need is greater access to the skills, support, and real opportunities to step into their potential. That is exactly why we created the Purposeful Leaders Program.
Why We Created the Purposeful Leaders Program
As Future Female Leaders enters its sixth year, one thing has become clear: leadership development for young women cannot wait until adulthood.
Through the Signature Program, we have watched participants build genuine confidence, find their voice, create social impact initiatives, and completely reframe what they believe is possible for their future. The transformation is real and it is lasting.
At the same time, demand consistently outgrew our capacity. If we are serious about our mission to ignite the leadership potential of over 10,000 young female leaders across Western Australia by 2030, we needed a new pathway. One that could reach more young women earlier, more broadly, and in the places they already are.
The Purposeful Leaders Program (PLP) is that pathway.
And to be clear: this is not a watered-down version of what we do. It is practical, intentional leadership development designed specifically for the world these young women are growing up in.
What Is the Purposeful Leaders Program?
The PLP is a flexible online leadership programme designed specifically for young women aged 15 to 18. Students build confidence, resilience, communication skills, emotional intelligence, and future-ready leadership capability, regardless of where they live or how they access learning.
Across eight leadership modules, students explore:
- Redefining Leadership for Purpose
- Self-Awareness & Mindset
- Resilience, Flexibility & Grit
- Emotional Intelligence
- Navigating Uncertainty with Critical Thinking
- Networking & Relationships
- Leading with Influence
- Mentorship & Storytelling
The program is grounded in a clear belief: modern leadership is no longer defined by authority or titles. It requires empathy, resilience, self-awareness, and the confidence to contribute meaningfully in a fast-moving world. These are skills young women deserve the opportunity to develop early.
Flexible Learning Designed for Real Life
Young women can complete the program independently from home, through their school, within a community organisation, or as part of a facilitated group environment. This flexibility makes high-quality leadership education accessible for students across metropolitan, regional, and remote Western Australia.
The course includes:
- Eight online leadership modules
- Short, engaging video lessons
- Downloadable worksheets and reflection activities
- Interactive quizzes
- Self-paced online access
- A certificate upon completion
Schools and Organisations Already On Board
The response from schools and community organisations has been genuinely encouraging. The PLP has been piloted across three Perth schools, alongside individual students completing the program from home. Early engagement was strong across a wide range of learning environments.
Schools and organisations now delivering the program (early 2026) include:
- St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls
- Guildford Grammar School
- Greenwood College
- Carine Senior High School
- Sevenoaks Senior College
- Lynwood Senior High School
- North Dianella Melaleuca Guide Unit
This growing list reflects something broader happening across WA. Schools and community groups are increasingly recognising that leadership capability, resilience, confidence, and emotional intelligence should be developed alongside academic achievement, not instead of it.
What Students, Educators and Parents Are Saying
Young women completing the program have shared that it is helping them feel more confident speaking up, understand their own strengths more clearly, and approach challenges with greater self-belief.
Educators and parents have reflected on the value of giving young women access to structured leadership development at a younger age, through content that feels practical, engaging, and genuinely relevant to what they are navigating today.
The feedback has reinforced something we already believed deeply: young women are ready for leadership opportunities. They simply need environments that help them recognise and develop their capability.
Why This Matters
The stakes are real. Australia’s gender pay gap currently sits at 21.1%. Women hold only 9% of ASX300 CEO positions. Western Australia records the highest employer gender pay gap of any Australian state.
These numbers are not inevitable. They reflect generations of underinvestment in women’s leadership development and the pathways that make leadership accessible.
The leaders we need in our boardrooms, industries, parliament, schools, and communities twenty years from now are sitting in classrooms today. What we do for them now matters.
The Purposeful Leaders Program exists because leadership opportunity should not depend on postcode, confidence level, school type, or circumstance.
Access matters.
Get Involved
There are multiple ways to support and participate in the Purposeful Leaders Program. Here is how to get involved.
Individual Students
Young women can enrol directly and begin learning immediately for $297 including GST. Scholarship placements are also available, funded through Future Female Leaders’ corporate and community partners, ensuring financial barriers do not prevent access.
Sign Up and Get Started Here – Scroll to the buttom of this page to apply for a scholarship.
Corporate & Business Partners
Businesses and organisations can support young women across WA by purchasing scholarship bundles of 10 or 20 program passes. These are allocated to young women on the scholarship waitlist, providing a practical, meaningful way to invest in gender equity, future workforce capability, and community impact.
Schools & Community Groups
Schools, youth organisations, and community groups can partner with Future Female Leaders to adopt and deliver PLP within their own environments. Flexible implementation options are available depending on year groups, timetabling, wellbeing initiatives, and facilitation requirements. We would love to work alongside more schools and organisations committed to helping young women build confidence and future-ready skills.
Express Interest Through This Form
The Girls Are Ready.
Young women across Western Australia are telling us they are ready. Ready to lead, ready to contribute, ready to challenge themselves and create impact.
The Purposeful Leaders Program exists to help ensure more of them have the opportunity to step into that potential, with confidence, support, and practical leadership education behind them.
Because leadership is not reserved for certain types of people. It is a skill. And it can be learnt.